An iconic fictional film lawyer once argued a man's home is his castle and now three climate activists are arguing the planet is their 'Castle'.
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"And NAB is ruining it," Bernard Tonkin told the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Monday during a contest mention.
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Alongside Dean Bridgfoot and Laura Levetan, Tonkin is fighting a summary charge of trespass after the trio refused to leave the National Australia Bank earlier this year on March 31.
In hearing before Magistrate Russell Kelly, the trio said they would not consider a guilty plea - and pleaded not guilty using the defence of duress.
'The bank is guilty' - accused tells court
Mr Tonkin told the court, "the bank is guilty - not us".
At a three-day hearing on March 6-8, 2024 they will present evidence from eight expert witnesses on what they said was an "existential threat" to them, their families and the broader community.
Magistrate Kelly said the trio was entitled to have their beliefs but the bank staff were not obliged to talk to them, and they needed to leave the private property when asked.
He said he "may well have some support for their philosophy", but the belief that coal was destroying the planet was an explanation but "not relevant to a fact in issue".
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The court heard the accused, who were representing themselves, did not dispute that they were there, that they were asked to leave and then refused..
Ms Levetan said their experts sought to prove to the court that the trio "believed" in the climate threat and that this belief was factually correct.
Trio felt 'vindicated' after NAB decision
Mr Bridgfoot said there was a "reasonable threat of harm to all of us" as he said the Australian banks - in this instance National Australia Bank - helped fund the expansion of coal mining.
He said they felt "vindicated" when only four days after their arrest, and alongside six other actions nationally, NAB pulled out of a decision to fund a NSW coal mine expansion.
"We weren't smashing the place up, we were more than reasonable," Castlemaine vet Mr Bridgfoot told the court.
Magistrate Kelly said their evidence that climate change was "ruining the world" would be non-contentious with the prosecution highly unlikely to suggest anything to the contrary.
The court heard Ms Levetan and Mr Bridgfoot had no criminal priors.
Mr Tonkin said he had been fined $100 in 1989 for trespass as part of an anti-nuclear protest where the court heard he also met his wife.
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Lucy Williams
Journalist with an interest in telling regional and rural stories, and covering the diverse array of topics that matter to the people of Bendigo.
Journalist with an interest in telling regional and rural stories, and covering the diverse array of topics that matter to the people of Bendigo.
